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The first thing Mac notices when he walks into Dennis's room is that it smells funky. He's not going to judge, though. When someone's been stuck in their bed for a few days, a fever as hot as a southern summer, and a nose that simply won't stop running and a body that won't stop sweating, their room is bound to smell funky. Mac ignores the smell and instead takes in the sight of his sick best friend.
Mac knows Dennis isn't dying because he's made sure of it, but he sure looks like it. His skin is pale, his hair is greasy and clinging to his forehead, he hasn't showered since Tuesday and it's now Friday. Mac has been trying to get him into a bath, but for now, he'll be happy if he can get Dennis to eat a few of the crackers he's brought with him.
He gets to the bed and sits down next to a mostly asleep Dennis, but is surprised when he feels how wet the bed is. He had expected some dampness on the account of the sickness, but this he hadn't expected. He gets up and sets the crackers on the nightstand before inspecting the bed, finding it to be the most wet around where Dennis's crotch is. With that finding comes the realization of what the funky smell is and what the wet spot is.
In Dennis's feverish state, he's wet himself. Mac accepts the problem as quickly as he figures it out, so used to cleaning urine from mattresses from growing up with Charlie. The most challenging part of this entire situation will be trying to get Dennis up and into a bath so he doesn't sleep in his own waste any longer. Plus, it'll make him feel so much better, if personal experience can speak for Mac.
He tries to shake Dennis awake but it doesn't prove effective. He tries to talk Dennis awake, but that also doesn't work. When he tries both of them together and all he can manage is a two word incoherent sentence, he gives up for now and goes to run the bath before starting over. He puts some bath salts in and then finds some type of oatmeal that claims it's for baths and he's never heard of oatmeal for baths, but he puts it in anyways. Anything for a sick Dennis. But now, with the bath water at a proper temperature and everything dissolved and the tub filled, he has to try and get Dennis out of bed.
He goes back to Dennis, taking in his sickly sight for a few moments before sitting down next to him again, ignoring what he knows he's sitting in because he already has to change his pants anyway.
He starts to shake Dennis, harder than he did last time, and Dennis at least stirs. "Hey, buddy," Mac whispers. "We gotta get you in a bath."
Dennis tries to smack Mac away, but it's obvious he hasn't moved much and he doesn't have great control over his body. The smack lands flat.
"Don't wanna..." he mumbles, his voice raspy and muffled by all the blankets he's wrapped in.
"You wet the bed," Mac doesn’t sugarcoat.
"Wha?"
"And you're pretty gross. I know it's hard to stand, but you'll feel better."
Dennis doesn't respond for a long while, either still drifting in and out of sleep or mulling around in his head whether he actually cares to get up, but eventually he shifts.
"I wet myself," he slowly says, his mouth now out of the sheets. Mac nods, though Dennis can't see him.
"I have a bath ready for you."
"I have to stand up." Slowly, he's figuring it out through his fever-addled mind.
"I'll help you."
"I'm naked," Dennis protests. Mac scoffs.
"I've seen you naked. Besides, I'm not letting you walk by yourself like this."
"Fuck," Dennis quietly swears. He's been trying to sit up since their conversation started, but has been consistently failing. Mac takes it upon himself to hoist Dennis up carefully until he's resting his back against the headboard.
"I've made a mess..." Dennis says. Mac lightly laughs.
"I'm here to help clean you up. We just gotta get you standing, okay?"
"Can I crawl?" he asks, a question he never would ask if he were in his right mind.
"No, dude, it'll be easier for the both of us if you walk. It'll be fine, I promise."
He pulls the blankets away from Dennis, much to his protests, and takes his legs and moves them so they're on the edge of the bed. If Dennis were to just scoot up, he could put his feet on the floor. He tries to get Dennis moved up, but he's like a rock.
"Come on, dude, help me here."
"I thought I was," Dennis admits.
"No. Just--scoot up, then stand up. You can put all your weight on me."
"Okay," Dennis agrees, and somehow, they do it. They get him on his feet, both of their balances wobbly as Mac guides them into the bathroom. Dennis's bare skin is burning against Mac and all the sweat is sticky and Mac realizes he definitely needs to get some liquid into him because he has got to be dehydrated. But first, he has to focus on the bath.
It's another challenge to get Dennis to lift up his leg over the edge of the tub. He has to depend completely on Mac to not drop him as he struggles to lift his own limbs, and when he tries to get the second leg in, he has to hold onto Mac's shoulders with as strong of a grip as he can manage in his current state. And then, finally, he's sitting in the tub, the hot water washing the mess off his body. He already looks half asleep again, but Mac figures that if he does fall asleep, he'll be fine. He's not a baby. And so Mac makes sure he's settled, then he goes to survey the mess that is Dennis's bed.
The first step is to strip the sheets, that's for sure, and then to see just what made it past the fabric and soaked into Dennis's mattress. As awful as all the experience he's had with cleaning piss, he's glad it's come in handy this one time. The mess on the mattress isn’t as bad as he was expecting, all the blankets mostly absorbing everything, and the fact that Dennis has been dehydrated allows there to not be much of a puddle to begin with. All Mac has to do is spray the spot with stain remover and then dab it up with an old towel, and it’s almost good as new. He puts new sheets on the bed, grabs new blankets, and decides he’s done all he can do.
When he finally gets back to Dennis, Dennis is peacefully asleep, more than halfway in the water, but just the steam from the bath makes him look so much better. Mac gently wakes him up, it being much easier this time, and tells him it's time to wash his hair.
"You do it," Dennis mumbles.
Mac tries to protest because something about washing a naked, sick Dennis's hair doesn't sit well with him, but his refusals fall on deaf ears when Dennis is already checked out of the world again.
So he does it. He gets a crappy plastic cup from the kitchen, he wets Dennis's hair, and he squeezes the expensive shampoo into his hands. Dennis murmurs something when Mac starts to lather the shampoo into his hair, but Mac doesn't catch one word, and he lets it go. He's not sure he wants to know. For some reason, he knows that whatever Dennis has to say will not make this situation less intimate.
And the intimacy... Mac doesn't want to admit it, but he loves it. It feels right. Like he should always be washing Dennis's hair, like the way his fingers run through it to get all the grease out is what his fingers were created to do, and he almost wants to curse himself for never doing this earlier. As awkward as he thinks this should be, he doesn't want it to end. He wants to keep scrubbing Dennis's hair, wants to keep covering his eyes as he pours water over his head to get all the soap out, wants Dennis to keep trusting him with this amount of vulnerability, wants to feel the love from a healthy Dennis.
Love.
Love?
Mac shakes his head. That's not a thought he can afford. Ever. Thoughts like that are designed only to be suppressed, and that's how he'll live his life.
The soap is out of Dennis's hair now and Mac tells him that they're done.
"What about my body?"
"The water cleaned that."
"It doesn't feel clean."
"I'm not gonna scrub your body." He would, though. He wants to. Wants to delicately rub a towel across his flushed skin, moving his limbs so he can reach all the delicate areas of his body, feel the trust and love that comes with such naked intimacy, but he can't. He simply can't handle it.
The best he can do is stick his hand in the water, ignore just how close he is to Dennis's exposed crotch, and unplug the drain. Dennis complains and Mac ignores him, instead opting to calm his rapidly beating heart down by grabbing one of the towels he laid out and holding it open for Dennis to walk into.
"I can't stand up," Dennis claims.
"Just get into the towel and we'll sit you on the toilet," Mac returns.
Somehow, Dennis manages to put his weight on the side of the tub and stand up, though he's obviously struggling. Mac can't risk him falling as he steps out, so he offers him his arm as support, and Dennis gladly takes it.
The moment they wrap him in the towel, he's sitting on the toilet, one hand supporting his head and the other keeping the towel closed around him and his skin protected from the cold air.
"Did you put new sheets on my bed?" he asks.
"Yeah," Mac says. The sheets he took off his bed are already in the wash, but Mac doesn't mention that.
"Thank you." Another thing he'd never say if he were in his right mind, but Mac will treasure it all the same.
The drain makes a loud noise as the water finishes its movement into the building's drainage pipes. Mac takes another towel and starts to rub it around Dennis's hair, just trying to get it so it won't drip onto his dry skin and not soak his pillow as badly.
"Are you ready to go back to bed?" he questions when he’s satisfied with Dennis’s hair.
"I'm dizzy."
"You'll feel better in your bed."
Dennis doesn't respond. His eyes are closed and his grip on the towel has loosened, allowing it to open just enough to expose his chest.
"I have some crackers for you to eat."
"I don't want to eat."
"You haven't eaten in a day. You need to eat at least a few. And drink something."
"I'm not gonna drink water."
"So I'll get you soda. It doesn't matter to me."
"Can I go back to bed first?"
"Of course."
The towel falls when Mac helps Dennis to his feet, and Mac ignores it. He's seen Dennis naked many times already today. Just because Dennis smells a lot better shouldn't make a difference. He's still just as sick, and their relationship is still just as platonic.
Dennis lets out a sigh of relief when he climbs into his bed, Mac quick to pull the blankets up to cover him, both because he doesn't want Dennis to be cold and because he doesn't want to see his body anymore.
He leaves the room. He takes some time to calm himself down and then grab Dennis a drink and some of the flu medicine he bought three days ago. He's gone for longer than he needs to be and when he re-enters Dennis's room, Dennis is so asleep that he's snoring. Mac could wake him up, but he doesn't. He sets the cup of soda and the pills next to the crackers on the nightstand, and he tells himself he'll come back in in an hour to force Dennis to eat. For now, he'll be happy with what he managed to do, and he'll take a break before taking care of Dennis again.
